I was born in Poonch (Kashmir) and now I live in Norway. I oppose war and violence and am a firm believer in the peaceful co-existence of all nations and peoples. In my academic work I have tried to espouse the cause of the weak and the oppressed in a world dominated by power politics, misleading propaganda and violations of basic human rights. I also believe that all conscious members of society have a moral duty to stand for and further the cause of peace and human rights throughout the world.

Friday, June 07, 2013

Richard Falk: Whose ‘Two State’ Solution? End game or Intermission?

Richard Falk,6June, 2013From many sources there is a widespread effort to resume a
peace process that has in the past led to failure, frustration, and
anger, and often to renewed violence. The newly appointed American
Secretary of State, John Kerry, is about to make his fifth trip to Israel
since the beginning of 2013, insisting that the two sides try once more
to seek peace, and warning if this doesn’t happen very soon, the
prospects for an agreed upon solution will be postponed not for just a
year or two, but for decades. Kerry says if this current effort does not
succeed, he will turn his attention elsewhere, and that the United States
will make no further effort. So far, aside from logging the air miles,
seems perversely to be responsive to Tel Aviv’s demands for land swaps
to allow settlement blocs to be incorporated into Israel and to promote
further Palestinian concessions in relation to security arrangements,
and totally unresponsive to Ramallah’s demands for some tangible signs
from the Israeli government that resumed negotiations will not be
another slammed door. In this vein, Kerry’s most ardent recent plea was
at the Global Forum, an annual event organized under the auspices of the
American Jewish Committee. Kerry told this audience that they possessed the influence to make the peace talks happen.